I have to confess that Portuguese production films have deserved my attention in recent times, and I have been more satisfied with what I find. Even so, I feel that Portuguese movies are often lacking a truly cinematic thinking, as many films are still apparently more thought to TV than to the big screen. Here, I do not seem to me that it was the case.
The screenplay needs no presentations: the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, reevaluated and revalued about ten years ago, far at the expense of a television contest for the choice of the greatest Portuguese figures in history, became an example of the hospitality and generosity of the Portuguese people, and the self-denial and sense of honor that should guide a public man and a diplomat. By ignoring government orders, which prevented the granting of visas to Jewish people (in an attempt to please the Nazi regime and to keep Portugal in a state of neutrality difficult to manage, but imperative), Sousa Mendes saved the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people who would probably have been killed. Subsequently, he was dismissed and forgotten, dying in misery and not watching the rehabilitation of his name.
Except for the main character, the movie is taken by a simple conception of its characters. Vítor Norte did a good job as Sousa Mendes, although it seems to me that he made the diplomat a figure too impassive... even when furious, as in the milk glass scene, he seems devoid of personality and spontaneity. Was Sousa Mendes really that warm? Joaquim Nicolau was also up to the challenge proposed to him, giving life to a diplomatic attaché in a very institutional and credible way. Leonor Seixas does a good job, but she has a character who doesn't seem to demand much from her. Veterans Manuel de Blas and Laura Soveral also deserves praise. Less positive was the participation of Pedro Cunha, but the fault is not the actor but the way his character was thought. I just can't conceive how that character would behave so rebelliously.
Technically, the film has several merit points, starting with the choice of places for filming, in the beautiful city of Viana do Castelo, where the production managed to emulate period environments without major difficulties. The conception of costumes and also the choice of classic vehicles and cars used, seemed very careful to me, attentive to the details and determined to respect the aesthetics of the period. The soundtrack works well, although it is perhaps a little melodramatic and seems to be an attempt to imitate the soundtrack for the movie "The Schindler's List". I don't like cinematography either, very gray, nebula and colorless.
